His medical team said at a press briefing that the 86-year-old former leader was on a ventilator to help him breathe.

Dr Ismoyo, a cardiologist, described his condition as 'alarming'.

'We cannot say how long' he can be kept alive, said Dr Muhammad Munawar, another member of his medical team.

Mr Suharto was admitted to hospital a week ago suffering from anaemia and low blood pressure due to heart, lung and kidney problems.

Yesterday, family members and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla rushed to his bedside as doctors fought to arrest a dramatic worsening of his condition.

Dr Marjo Subiandono, the chief presidential doctor, said earlier that his organs were not responding to ongoing dialysis and repeated transfusions, and there were signs of inflammation, indicating possible infection in his fluid-clogged lungs.

A source in Mr Kalla's office, who declined to be named, said the vice-president was at the hospital in order to be a witness at the former general's death. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is currently in Malaysia.

Relatives were gathered by Mr Suharto's bedside praying and reciting verses from the Quran, said a close aide to the family.

Mr Suharto came to power after an abortive coup on Sept 30, 1965, that was officially blamed on the communist party.

He was ousted in 1998 amid massive student protests and nationwide riots.

The retired five-star general withdrew from public life, venturing from his comfortable villa on a leafy lane in the capital only to attend family functions or for medical emergencies.

A series of strokes in recent years has left him with permanent brain damage and impaired speech.

He was charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars of state funds after he quit office, but the government later dropped the case due to his poor health.

Yesterday, a group of 20 people belonging to a solidarity group for victims of human rights violations in the Suharto era gathered at Pertamina Hospital bearing banners with the words 'Put Soeharto on trial' and a huge bouquet wishing him well.

Most said they wished for Suharto's recovery, but humanity and justice were two different things.

Some Indonesians, though, look back with nostalgia to the Suharto era, when Indonesia was one of Asia's tiger economies, and refer to him fondly as the 'Father of Development'.

AFP, REUTERS